Product Design in 2017

As the year closes, it’s interesting to take a moment and figure out how design is going to be evolving in 2017.

From newer, better, more intuitive smartphones, to the rise of newer technologies that have changed the way we looked at the world, 2016 has been truly remarkable.

More and more, I think the stress will be placed on software design (User Interfaces and Usability — UI and UX) more than anything.

Your lamps, fridges, microwaves, audio players will largely look the same, but they will be powered by narrow AI that allows you to, say, voice-control them, or connect them to your phone. We’ve seen a huge push towards home automation hubs, like the Amazon Echo and such. Everything will be more intuitive and easier to use.

And yet, with cheaper and cheaper microcontrollers like the Arduino or the Raspberry Pi, as well as drones and cameras, we’re seeing a huge push towards innovations in hardware as well. All these new products are pushing towards the creation of better and cheaper sensors, as well as more accurate stepper and brushless DC motors.

This has meant that we get smarter gadgets every day, from camera stabilizers to hoverboards, the list is only going to grow.

So, I’d say that, in 2017, design is going to blend even more inextricably with function, in ways that we haven’t seen before. And this, for us, is the most exciting part of being alive right now.